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Five Short Pieces

Introduction

The Five Short Pieces were written in 1929 while Whitlock was still in Rochester; they were published the following year just after his move to Bournemouth, and they brought him his first major success as a composer: ‘among the most encouraging of recent organ publications’, said the Musical Times, ‘… the music has tune and freshness’. The engaging stylistic diversity of these unpretentious works was prophetic of Whitlock’s future career: two light concert pieces (Nos 1 and 4), together with two sweetly melodic slow movements (Nos 2 and 3) and a rousing finale, these three equally suited to either church or concert hall.

Recordings

'Julian Millard has caught the St Paul's organ to perfection, setting it at the heart of the cathedral's sumptuous acoustic while offering a dazzlingl ...'In a word, then, these performances are exemplary. The technical quality of the recording is equally high … This is a wonderful disc' (Internati ...» More

'A beautiful sense of intimacy and privacy pervades; nothing is hurried, nothing overdone … This is a superb disc' (Gramophone)'the programming works exceptionally well … Herrick gives a compelling performance' (BBC Music Magazine)» More

'Hyperion's organ recordings are in a class of their own, and this wonderfully mixed bag of goodies … represents unparalleled value for money. I ...'Herrick's performances need no recommendation to those already acquainted with his dazzling skills' (The Good CD Guide)» More

Details

First as a chorister and later as assistant organist, Percy Whitlock was associated with Rochester Cathedral in his native Kent until the age of twenty-seven, when he moved to Bournemouth to become organist and choirmaster of St Stephen’s Church. He became Municipal Organist at the Pavilion in 1935, a post which he retained until the end of his relatively short life. Like Ketèlbey, he was a significant figure in the field of light orchestral music. Although there has recently been renewed interest in his large-scale compositions, it is undoubtedly for the smaller pieces that he will generally be remembered. Folk Tune, the second of his Five Short Pieces of 1929, is typical of Whitlock’s unpretentious style. It consists essentially of a threefold repetition of a wistful melody (the second time in the tenor register) which, like all the best folk tunes, sounds as if it has always been in the air, not brought into existence by human hand.

Percy Whitlock was a popular English concert organist who came to fame when living in Bournemouth on the south coast of England. He was Director of Music at St Stephen’s church, and borough organist at the municipal pavilion which had a Compton pipe organ. His BBC broadcasts won him many friends.

He wrote this Paean (song of exaltation) in 1930, the concluding climax of a set of five pieces. It is written with an English orchestral organ in mind, one whose crowning glory is a gloriously overwhelming tuba stop, matched here by the reeds of the Skinner organ.